Yoko Ono and John Lennon on Nov. 21, 1980.Photo:Allan Tannenbaum/Polaris
Allan Tannenbaum/Polaris
When taxi driver Richard Peterson pulled up to the Dakota the night of Dec. 8, 1980, he thought perhaps he’d get a glimpse ofJohn Lennon, the New York City apartment building’s most famous resident.
Instead, he inadvertently bore witness to one of the most shocking moments in pop culture history:Lennon’s murder.
In the series, Peterson explains that he picked up two passengers that night and drove them to the Dakota, where they were going to a party. As he arrived in his cab, he pulled up behind a limo, and soon saw Lennon’s wifeYoko Onostep out and head toward the building.
“‘Oh! John Lennon must be coming out next,’” Peterson recalls thinking. “I had never seen him in person. It was sort of like, oh, I can say I saw John Lennon.”
John Lennon and Yoko Ono photographed on Nov. 2, 1980.Jack Mitchell/Getty
Jack Mitchell/Getty
At that point, though, it wasn’t the 40-year-old musician that Peterson saw but Mark David Chapman whom he recalls as a “heavyset, chunky guy.”
“I’m looking at him, looking through the front window of my cab. I’m looking at him shoot him. Five shots. This guy just shot John Lennon. He shot him,” he says. “I thought they were making a movie. That’s what I thought, I thought they were making a movie. But I didn’t see no lights or cameras or anything, so I just realized, ‘Hey, this ain’t no movie.’”
Peterson recalls that Lennon’s killer – whoremains behind barsafter pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 1981 — remained on the scene after the shooting, and acted “calm as a cucumber.”
John Lennon in New York City ca. 1973.Vinnie Zuffante/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Vinnie Zuffante/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Others include Dakota doorman Jay Hastings — who speaks to PEOPLE about his memories in this week’s issue — as well as Chapman’s defense lawyer David Suggs and Dr. Naomi Goldstein, the psychiatrist who first assessed Chapman.
The series dives deep on the investigation and conviction of Chapman, as his attorneys and prosecutors debated his mental state. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison, and was denied parole for the 12th time in 2022. He has since said that hekilled Lennon for fame, and called his actions “selfish.”
For more on John Lennon, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere now.
source: people.com
